SHE-E-O, Episode 03: Getting Period Blood on the White House

Another whirlwind week (and wait, can we talk about how it’s already July?! WTF!)

The most exciting parts of this week?

1. Over the weekend I was in Boston to speak at a gal pal’s foundation fundraiser for “The Desai Foundation.” At first, I was kinda annoyed to have to go all the way to Boston to give my energy to something I didn’t know much about - I realllly wanted a weekend to just chill (for once) but I made a promise a while ago (you know when you promise something like 4 months out and then the day comes and you kinda wish you didn’t say you would), and so I went. And boy oh boy oh boy, was I really blown away by what her small family foundation has accomplished. They built schools and medical centers in India and have impacted the lives of tens of thousands of people. It truly goes to show what an individual or a small group of individuals can do to improve the world. I announced then and there that THINX would sponsor the Desai Foundation and fund THINX Global Girls Clubs at their schools.

I spoke to a room full of about 200 fairly conservative Indian immigrants from India and their families about periods and its effect on women and girls’ lives and as I spoke, I could hear a pin drop...the exact same thing happened when I flew to Nashville Tennessee a day later and spoke to a room full of fairly conservative southern folks...and again I could hear a mouse whisper in the room. I literally thought I bombed both talks initially and my pits were extra sweaty and my jokes weren’t landing and people seemed shell shocked...

It’s so very clear that so many cultures are still very uncomfortable with periods in groups (right here in Amur'ca too!) but the coolest part of the talks was what came after - when people rushed up to me individually to talk with me and tell me that they felt liberated and so excited that I spoke about it with such openness. Phewwwwww. You know when you think you screwed up and then you get even more giddy when the response is the exact opposite? Our minds tell the best stories to ourselves don’t they? Sighh.

2. Another fun part of my job is to give raises! Who is the most popular person that day in the office? The person doling out a bunch of cash = meeee! I’m fine with it, even if I am literally buying likes :-) This past week I reviewed all of the people who started in January and gave everyone their deserving raises. I feel like the luckiest gal in the world to get to work with and teach and learn from these young, talented, feminist minds. It really is the people that can make “work” either feel like “work” or feel like “wait, I get to play in vagina costumes with people I love all day and this is my job?” (says Leigha on my team)...#blessed.

3.On Thursday, I had the very cool opp to bring some of my most creative marketing and entrepreneurial friends to Hillary Clinton HQ to sit with their entire Millennial and Women campaign team to figure out how to get Hillary elected and mainly figure out how to get Bernie fans to stop hating her so much and truly understand what Hillary has done for this country, specifically for women’s rights, reproductive rights and see how she has been breaking glass ceilings at every stage of her life. Leigha on my team (the vagina costume chick commenter from above) came to film the experience but also shared her thoughts. Leigha’s a rabid Bernie fan and was SO disappointed when he didn’t win (a lot of our team feels this way). What was interesting is that she was so focused on hating Hillary that she knew very few facts on what Hillary actually has done in her lifetime, and when she found some of the stuff out, she felt compelled to learn more and take off her “Feel the Bern, Hate Hill” hat off for the first time.

So, to many of you skeptics out there who feel like “Man, I really don’t want to vote for the lesser of the two evils and would rather sit this one out, here are a few things of what Hillary has done in her lifetime as a civil servant (pls don't help elect Drumph) (special thanks to Amy Karr who assembled this list of Hillary accomplishments together and who is the most versed person I know on the campaign):

April, 1962, Hillary Rodham and her church youth group attended a speech given by Dr. Martin Luther King at Chicago's Orchestra Hall.

After seeing King speak, the event compelled 14-year-old Hillary to volunteer to babysit for migrant workers who could not afford child care.

As president of the Student government at Wellesley, she led a 2 day disciplined strike after King's assassination to create meaningful action and dialogue

First student commencement speaker at Wellesley College.

Distinguished graduate of Yale Law School

Editorial board of the Yale Review of Law and Social Action

Appointed to Senator Walter Mondale's Subcommittee on Migratory Labor.

Co-founded Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families

Staff attorney for Children's Defense Fund

Faculty member in the School of Law at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville - at the time when Walmart was providing jobs to people in rural areas without access to opportunities or income.

Former Director of the Arkansas Legal Aid Clinic.

First female chair of the Legal Services Corporation

First female partner at Rose Law Firm.

Former civil litigation attorney.

Former Law Professor at the University of Arkansas School of Law.

Twice listed by The National Law Journal as one of the hundred most influential lawyers in America

Former First Lady of Arkansas.

Arkansas Woman of the Year in 1983

Chair of the American Bar Association's Commission on Women in the Profession

Twice named by the National Law Journal as one of the 100 most influential lawyers in America

Created Arkansas's Home Instruction Program for Preschool Youth

Led a task force that reformed Arkansas's education system

Board of directors of Wal-Mart and several other corporations

She played a leading role in the development of State Children’s Health Insurance Program, which provides the much-needed state support for children whose parents cannot afford nor provide them with adequate healthcare coverage

Promoted nationwide immunization against childhood illnesses

Successfully sought to increase research funding for prostate cancer and childhood asthma at the National Institutes of Health

She spearheaded investigations into mental illness plaguing veterans of the Gulf War; we now have a term for it – Gulf War Syndrome

Helped create the Office on Violence Against Women at the Department of Justice

Initiated and shepherded the Adoption and Safe Families Act

First FLOTUS in US History to hold a postgraduate degree

Traveled to 79 countries during time as FLOTUS

Helped create Vital Voices, an international initiative to promote the participation of women in the political processes of their countries.

Served on five Senate committees:

Committee on Budget (2001–2002)

Committee on Armed Services (2003–2009)

Committee on Environment and Public Works (2001–2009)

Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (2001–2009)

Special Committee on Aging.

Member of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe

Instrumental in securing $21 billion in funding for the World Trade Center site's redevelopment

Took a leading role in the investigation of health consequences of first responders and drafted the first bill to compensate and offer the health services our first responders deserve (Clinton’s successor in the Senate, Kirsten Gillibrand, passed the bill).

In the aftermath of September 11th, she worked closely with her senior Senate counterpart from New York, Sen. Charles Schumer, on securing $21.4 billion in funding for the World Trade Center redevelopment.

Middle East ceasefire. In November 2012, Secretary of State Clinton brokered a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.

Introduced the Family Entertainment Protection Act, intended to protect children from inappropriate content found in video games.

First ex-FLOTUS in US History to be elected to the United States Senate (and re-elected)

Was the most traveled Secretary of State, visiting 112 countries and holding 1,700 meetings with world leaders.

Oh and Hillary won a Grammy. So what if it's an audio book for "it takes a village" - hahaha

In blood we trust,

xo

Miki

NOTE: ﻿Some of you have expressed concern that your dollars spent on THINX will go towards Hillary's campaign - they will not. The sole cause we support monetarily is our giveback mission in the developing world (currently with AFRIpads as we develop The THINX Foundation and Global Girls Clubs).

Get access to our periodical content and be the first to know literally everything (not literally).